Francis Sylvester Mahony

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Francis Sylvester Mahony (Father Prout) (31 December 1804 – 18 May 1866), Irish humorist, born in Cork, Ireland to Martin Mahony and Mary Reynolds. He was educated at the Jesuit Clongowes Wood College, Kildare, and later in Saint Acheul, a similar school in Amiens, France and then at Rue de Sèvres, Paris, and later in Rome. He began teaching at the Jesuit school of Clongowes as master of rhetoric, but was soon after expelled from the order. He then came to London, and became a leading contributor to Fraser's Magazine, under the signature of "Father Prout." He was witty and learned in many languages. One form which his humour took was the professed discovery of the originals in Latin, Greek, or mediaeval French of popular modern poems and songs. Many of these jeux d'esprit were collected as Reliques of Father Prout. He wittily described himself as "an Irish potato seasoned with Attic salt." Latterly he acted as foreign correspondent to various newspapers, and died at Paris reconciled to the Church.

The clock tower of St. Anne's containing the Bells of Shandon
The clock tower of St. Anne's containing the Bells of Shandon

In his native Cork he is best remembered for his poem "The Bells of Shandon" and his pen-name is synonymous with the city and the church of St. Ann's, Shandon:-

The Bells of Shandon With deep affection and recollection I oft times think of those Shandon bells, Whose sound so wild would in the days of childhood, Fling round my cradle their magic spells, On this I ponder when'eer I wander and thus grow fonder sweet Cork of thee, With thy bells of Shandon that sound so grand on, The pleasant waters of the river Lee. I've heard bells chiming, full many a chime in, Tolling sublime in Cathedral shrine, While at a glib rate, brass tongues would vibrate, But all their music spoke naught like thine; For memory dwelling on each proud swelling, Of the belfry knelling its bold notes free, Made the bells of Shandon sound far more grand on, The pleasant waters of the river Lee. I've heard bells tolling Old "Adrian's Mole" in their thunder rolling from the Vatican, And cymbals glorious, swinging uproarious In the gorgeus turrets of Notre Dame, But thy sounds were sweeter than the dome of Peter, Flings o'er the Tiber, peelingly solemnly, O, the bells of Shandon sound far more grand on, The pleasant waters of the river Lee. There's a bell in Moscow, while on tower and kiosk o! In Saint Sophia the Turkman gets, And loud in air calls men to prayer, From the tapering summit of tall minarets. Such empty phantom, I freely grant them, But there is an anthem more dear to me, 'Tis the bells of Shandon that sound so grand on, The pleasant waters of the river Lee.'

[edit] Publications

The last two years of his life were passed in a monastery. [1] The Reliques of Father Prout was included in Bohn's Illustrated Library in 1860. Another volume, Final Reliques, was edited by Douglas Jerrold and published in 1876. The Works of Father Prout, eddited by Charles Kent, were published in 1881. Facts and Figures from Italy (1847) was made from his Rome letters to the London Daily News


[edit] References

This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.